A South African court has approved a multi-billion-dollar deal for Britain's Barclays bank to buy a controlling stake in the South African bank Absa.

The sale marks the biggest single foreign investment in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994.

In approving the deal, the Johannesburg high court dismissed objections from a local pressure group, Jubilee South Africa that argued Barclays should not be allowed to return to South Africa until it pays raparations to victims of apartheid.

The court ruled the group could not show how its rights would be directly affected by the deal. Barclays withdrew from South Africa in 1986 following protests from anti-apartheid groups.

The bank launched its takeover bid in May, offering nearly $5 billion for a 60 percent stake in Absa.